She grabbed an old wizard's hat and put it on my head. I hear a voice say, "Intresting, interesting. Where shall I put you?"

The voice continued to talk, "Well, you are rather brave. You are very clever. You are also fairly cunning. You are also kind at heart. Where to put you? You would excel in whatever house I put you in, but where would you do best? I don't think Hufflepuff for your other abilities outweigh them more. I rather don't think Gryffindor, for your bravery is limited. Ravenclaw or Slytherin? Well, you are very ambitious, so Slytherin it is!"

Headmistress McGonagall looked shocked. "Slytherin?" she asked the hat. "Are you sure?"

The hat replied, "I know where the students belong. It's all in their head."

Still shocked, she removied the hat from my head. I'm very confused. What's wrong with Slytherin? Well, Harry and Ron said that Slytherins were 'back-stabbing bastards', but they can't all be bad if I belong to it, can it?

The Headmistress waved her wand and my school uniform changed from red and gold to green and silver. I personally thought it looked better on me. "You're things will be moved to the Slytherin Commons and we'll get one of the Prefects to show you around."

I took this as my dismissal so I picked up my schedule and started to leave. I paused as my hand was on the door. I remembered Harry and Ron saying that 'we' were Gryffindors. I turned toward the Headmistress.

"Um, Headmistress?" She looked up and nodded her head signifying she was listening.

I continued, "When I left the Hospital Wing, Harry and Ron said that I was in Gryffindor; if that's true then why was I sorted?"

Her eyes widened. She blinked a couple of times as if trying to come up with an answer. Then she asked, "Did they call you Hermione when you woke up?"

"Yes, it was really annoying. However, they have finally learned my name."

"They called you Hermione because your resemblance to that student is uncanny. The only differences are the accents and that your hair is straight..." she trailed off in confused thought, I could tell because her eyebrows were furrowed.

"My hair can be very frizzy, in fact, if I don't let it air dry and brush it very often until it is dry, it looks as though I've been electrocuted."

She nodded. I'm going to leave this woman to her thoughts. I left her office and went down the spiraling staircase. I came out from behind the gargoyle and was greeted by Harry and Ron.

"What did McGonagall want to see you about?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at my wardrobe. "Why are your clothes green and silver?"

"Oh!" I prepared myself to start yelling because I had a feeling that their reactions weren't going to be good. "She just wanted to brief me on a few things, you know; give me a schedule, sort me..."

I was interrupted by Ron whose ears had turned bright red, and I don't think it was from embarrassment. "Sort you! What do you mean sort you?" he shouted at me.

I glared at him and he stopped with what I presumed may be a long rant. "Yes," I explained. "Since I'm new, I had to be sorted. I'm in Slytherin! I know you said that they weren't all that great, but they can't be all bad if I'm in it. The sorting hat put me in their because I'm cunning and have great ambitions. It said that I could have been in any of the houses, then it said that Slytherin and Ravenclaw would be best for me, then decided Slytherin because it said I would do better in it." I knew I was rambling. I was doing this on purpose to give the boys time to accept this fact and calm down at least a bit. It seemed to work a bit, well, not really. They were just shocked.

Their jaws were on the floor and their eyebrows were disappearing into their hairline. It was rather comical, but I knew I couldn't laugh because these two could fly off the handle at any moment.

Harry is first to collect his wits. "Are you kidding? Is this a joke?"

I shake my head. "No joke. I'm sure Slytherin isn't all that bad."

Ron stared at me. "Slytherin isn't all that bad?!? Have you lost your mind?!?"

I shot him a death glare. I responded cooly, "Perhaps I have lost my mind, but some great wizards and witches have hailed from the Slytherin house. Auroleus Phillipus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim also known as Paracelus was an Alchemical genius. Cliodine discovered the properties of moondew. Bowman Wright created the Golden Snitch. Edgar Stroulger invented the Sneakoscope. Salazar Slytherin was an accomplished Legilimens. Are you going to tell me that Slytherin is completely horrible?"

Both Ron and Harry were stunned by my list.

I continued, "Now, we can remain friends, or you can keep up your silly prejudice and we can end the companionship. Which do you prefer?"

The boys both hung their heads low the said in a barely audible tone, "Remain friends."

I smiled. "Good!" I said cheerfully. "Now where is the Slytherin common room?"

Harry and Ron gave me a sheepish smile in return. They each took one of my hands and we were off.

They brought me down to the dungeons. I shivered a bit. Once I put the damn robe away, I'm cold. Just my luck.

"All right," Harry said. "Here we are."

We were right outside a damp stone wall.

I turned to Harry, "You don't happen to know the password, do you?"

"No," he replied just staring at the wall.

"Of course you don't," I muttered to myself. Stupid passwords.

The wall opened up to allow a girl to come out. She looked to be our age and had long, straight dark brown hair. She was about 2 inches shorter than me and had a bit of a pug nose, but she was pretty overall.

She looked at me inquistively. "Kathryn Astuto?"

I smiled at her, "Yes, that's me. You must be the Prefect who's supposed to show me around the Slytherin commons. I guess I'll see you later Ron, Harry."

They departed after waving good-bye.

She stuck her hand out to me. I shook it, she had a firm grip. "I'm Pansy. Pansy Parkinson."